Catherine Zeta a ‘mess’ over Michael’s cancer

Catherine Zeta-Jones was left a “mess” after Michael Douglas was diagnosed with throat cancer.

The 44-year-old actress spoke movingly about her husband’s battle with the disease for the first time during an appearance at a medical event in New York on Sunday.

Sitting alongside her spouse, Catherine struggled to control her emotions as she opened up about Douglas’ struggle at the International Federation of Head and Neck Oncologic Societies 5th World Congress opening ceremony.

“I was a mess. I’ll be quite frank, I was a mess”, Catherine told the audience of her reaction to 69-year-old Michael’s diagnosis.

“When I’m married to a man who has such a conviction for life… he fights to make the wrongs right. For the first time, he was fighting for his life.”

Revealing that he was misdiagnosed three times before eventually being told he was suffering from the disease in 2010, Michael told the audience he is forever thankful that he managed to beat the illness.

“In all seriousness, and in every sense of the word, I’m very fortunate to be here today,” he said.

Michael was given the all clear after a grueling course of treatment including chemotherapy, which lead to him losing a staggering 40lbs.

Now Michael is moving on with his life alongside Catherine. The pair, who have two children together, decided to give their marriage another go last year following a brief separation.

But now the couple couldn’t be happier, with Catherine admitting: “I’m very happy to be here this morning with my husband. I mean that literally. I’m very happy to be here with my husband.”